Sakura Highball
The Sakura Highball was first created in a small standing bar in Naka-Meguro known simply as Haru. With no menu and no signage, the bar relied entirely on the creativity of its bartender, who crafted drinks based on conversation and season.
One spring night during hanami, a regular requested “a drink that tastes like tonight.” Inspired by the cherry blossoms drifting along the Meguro River, the bartender infused a syrup with preserved sakura petals and paired it with a delicate Japanese whisky. The drink became a quiet sensation, whispered about by travelers as “the blossom highball from the bar that doesn’t exist.”
Its subtle floral profile and restrained elegance made it a modern cult classic across Tokyo.
Ingredients
40 ml Japanese whisky
10 ml cherry blossom syrup
120 ml chilled soda water
Tall ice spear or block ice
Lemon twist or sakura petal (garnish)
Method
Add a tall ice spear to a highball glass.
Pour in the whisky and cherry blossom syrup.
Stir gently to chill without over-diluting.
Add soda water down the side of the glass.
Lift once very lightly with a bar spoon.
Garnish with a lemon twist or sakura petal.
Notes
Use the coldest soda water you can find for maximum bubbles. Minimal stirring keeps the carbonation sharp and the texture clean.
